Wainhouse Senior Analysts Craig Durr and Dan Root discuss what they have seen at ISE 2023 including demonstrations and announcements from Cisco, Google, and other companies. They also provide a look at what attendees can expect to experience this week at the convention.
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Transcript:
Dan Root: Hey everybody. We’re live here from ISE in Barcelona on day one, and I’m here joined with my fellow senior analyst, Craig Durr. Great to see you, Craig.
Craig Durr: Good to see you, Dan. I’m joined here with Dan Root. Dan?
Dan Root: Hey, it’s been a great day. I got to say, I cannot believe how packed this show is today.
Craig Durr: Let me tell you, this here is, to me, the World Series, this is the World Cup, this is the Super Bowl of AV integration and system integration professionals right now. It is a fantastic event.
Dan Root: It really feels like it this year.
Craig Durr: Yeah.
Dan Root: Almost every meeting I’ve had today, it’s truly felt like we are post-pandemic at this point and everyone has shown up and turned out for this show.
Craig Durr: Well, let’s talk to these people here about some of the things we’ve seen at the show so far.
Dan Root: Absolutely. It’s been a really, really good day of announcements. We’ve had some awesome demonstrations with interoperability between Microsoft and Cisco devices. Also within Google and Zoom. We’ve also had some really cool announcements around the 21:9 aspect ratio panels that are out there. We’re seeing more of those come to market. We’ve got one from AVAcore, MAXHUB has a new one, both in touch and non-touch flavors because of the placement on those aspect ratio monitors. What do you think the attendee experience is going to be like for this week?
Craig Durr: This is a good question. Like I said, there’s a lot going on here, Dan. We’re going to have 45,000 attendees. We’re going to have over 900 exhibitors. It’s divided up among eight different halls, and this place is huge. This is 200,000 square meters of exhibitions, of panels. There’s a lot of information being shared here this week.
Dan Root: There definitely is. I got to say, I hit my steps by noon today. It’s been a lot of walking around and back and forth.
Craig Durr: Now, one of the things I think are really interesting here, Dan, is the educational opportunities. Tell me what you think is going to go happen here.
Dan Root: I’m really looking forward to, later in this week, there’s the Smart Workplace Summit, which is sponsored by Shore, and then there is a whole host of different panels within that summit that are hosted by some of the top leading brands that are trying to solve for hybrid workplace challenges. Craig, actually, where do you think some of the outcomes are going to be for the attendees of these educational experiences?
Craig Durr: It’s a good question. Here’s some of my key takeaways that I’m really excited about right now. We’ve seen the last couple of quarters of lots of announcements of innovations taking place in our space, and now they’re actually coming to market. So some of the key ones I’m really excited about, Dan, is we see Google Meet working with Zoom and their inter-op story, Cisco Webex and their Microsoft Teams Room experience taking place. Now, not only in those UC spaces, but there’s also devices. Jabra has announced their PanaCast video bar system, which is now an Android system, integrated, fully operable to host meeting services of your choice. There’s a lot of great other things coming out too. I think there’s things from Poly, Crestron, Neat’s got some things out there they’re talking about as well. There’s a lot of good toys out there for you and I to go see on the floor.
Dan Root: There has been a lot of things for you to actually demo at this show, which we’ve heard a lot about over the preceding months, but it’s great to see it in real life and actually get to experience it. I know, walking through, I was able to test the newest Transcend MAXHUB V6 interactive touch display, which is really interesting. They also have a 21:9 aspect ratio variant that they’re bringing out. But the acceleration of that hybrid technology and really melding of, “I need to have the ability to communicate to folks outside of the room,” is really, really a powerful statement and I think a testament to where the market is today.
Craig Durr: Well, there’s a lot of updates we’re going to bring throughout the week, right?
Dan Root: Yes, absolutely.
Craig Durr: You have, actually, a couple interviews that you’re taking. I’m doing some as well too. We’re going to go ahead and bring them back to you here live, so we invite you to make sure that you follow Dan Root and myself on your social channel of choice, visit the Wainhouse website.
Dan Root: Absolutely.
Craig Durr: And we will bring you the best of ISE 2023. Thank you so much.
Dan Root: Thank you.
Author Information
As Practice Lead - Workplace Collaboration, Craig focuses on developing research, publications and insights that clarify how the workforce, the workplace, and the workflows enable group collaboration and communication. He provides research and analysis related to market sizing and forecasts, product and service evaluations, market trends, and end-user and buyer expectations. In addition to following the technology, Craig also studies the human elements of work - organizing his findings into the workforce, the workplace, and the workflows – and charting how these variables influence technologies and business strategies.
Prior to joining Wainhouse, now a part of The Futurum Group, Craig brings twenty years of experience in leadership roles related to P&L management, product development, strategic planning, and business development of security, SaaS, and unified communication offerings. Craig's experience includes positions at Poly, Dell, Microsoft, and IBM.
Craig holds a Master of Business Administration from the Texas McCombs School of Business as well as a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Tulane University.
